Canada falling short on pledge to resettle Syrian refugees

Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen

Updated: December 4, 2014

An elderly Syrian Kurdish refugee woman from the Kobani area, warms up by a fire at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. Vadim Ghirda / AP

Canada appears on the verge of breaking its promise to the United Nations to take in 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of year, even as it faces calls to do much more.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has revealed that 325 Syrian refugees arrived in Canada in the 14 months between July 2013, when the commitment was made, and the end of September 2014.

That means the government would have to resettle 975 in the final three months of 2014 to meet its commitment, which seems unlikely.

The numbers are contained in documents tabled in the House of Commons and represent the first clear picture of where Canada stands on its pledge after Immigration Minister Chris Alexander spent months dodging questions on the issue.

The figures have stoked fresh anger and frustration over the Conservative government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, which the UN has labelled the worst humanitarian emergency in a generation.

More than 2.5 million Syrians have fled into neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq since fierce fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces erupted in 2011. The situation has gotten worse with the rise of the Islamic State (ISIL) and other extremist groups.

Alexander’s office defended the government’s record Thursday, and suggested the slow progress was related to screening refugees for potential security risks.

“Cases undergo security screening which could take more time depending on the complexity of the case,” spokesman Kevin Menard said in an email. “We will not compromise on security screenings and will take the necessary time to ensure all the appropriate checks are completed.”

But officials had warned Alexander in March that the government’s decision to make private groups responsible for resettling 1,100 of the promised 1,300 Syrian refugees had made the commitment impossible to fulfil.

Canada “will not meet its Syrian (private sponsorship) commitment by the end of 2014” because “it takes time for private sponsors to organize and raise the funds to welcome a refugee to Canada,” reads a briefing note dated March 25 and obtained by the Citizen.

Of the 325 Syrian refugees that had been resettled by the end of September, 256 were sponsored by the government and only 69 had come through private sponsorship.

Long frustrated over Alexander’s refusal to provide a fulsome update on the commitment, opposition critics were quick to pounce after the new figures appeared to confirm their fears Canada would not meet its promise.

“They have failed,” said Liberal immigration critic John McCallum. “This is a deplorable performance in the face of the worst refugee crisis in decades.”

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, who asked for the numbers through an order-paper question, said the government’s apparent failure to meet its commitment is all the more tragic because the refugee crisis is getting worse.

“The reason it’s so urgent right now is because literally, lives hang in the balance,” he said. “When you have a crisis like the war in Syria, it’s absolutely critical you process people as quickly as possible.”

Alexander will travel to Geneva next week for a major conference on the Syrian refugee crisis. Canada has faced calls to increase its commitment, and opposition critics are hoping the minister will make a new pledge there in spite of the problems with the current promise.

“I’d like them to surprise Canadians and surprise the world and say, ‘We’re going to roll up our sleeves and make the commitment that’s needed,’” Dewar said.

lberthiaume@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/leeberthiaume

Syrian Refugees by the Numbers

2.5 million: Syrian refugees registered with the UN

30,000: Planned resettlements in the UN’s first appeal last year

1,300: Syrian refugees Canada had committed to taking by the end of 2014, in response to the first appeal

256: Syrian refugees who had arrived in Canada through government sponsorship by end of September

69: Syrian refugees who had arrived in Canada through private sponsorship by end of September

100,000: Planned resettlements in the UN’s second appeal earlier this year

0: Syrian refugees Canada has committed to taking in response to the second appeal

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